Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rail vehicle unit comprising a running gear and a wagon body unit forming two contact partners and defining a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction and a height direction. The wagon body unit is supported on the running gear via a suspension device, wherein a first rotational buffer device and a second rotational buffer device are associated to the running gear and the wagon body unit. The first rotational buffer device and the second rotational buffer device are adapted to damp a rotational motion between the running gear and the wagon body unit about a rotational axis parallel to the height direction.
Description of Related Art
Such rail vehicle units are well known in the art. Typically, such rail vehicle units have one or more traction linkage elements connected to the running gear frame and the wagon body in order to be able to transmit traction forces between the running gear and the wagon body during accelerating and braking. Conventionally, such traction linkage elements are comparatively short, longitudinally rigid elements cardanically connected to the running gear frame and the wagon body, as it is known, for example, known from DE 41 36 926 A1 (the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference).
However, in particular in modern low floor rail vehicles, there is very few space available in the area of the running gear to properly place such traction linkage elements. Moreover, due to the relative motion between the wagon body and the running gear during operation, such traction linkage elements require an additional amount of space for being able to execute their motion. Finally, in addition, due to the fact that an increasing number of active components are to be received within the limited space of the running gear, in many cases there is very little space available at favorable locations for introducing the traction forces. Rather, space for placing such traction linkage elements typically is more readily available at less favorable locations, such that the traction forces (and the stresses they cause within the affected components) have to take a long way through the running gear structure (ultimately from the point of wheel to rail contact) up to the point where the traction linkage element leads them into the wagon body.